Impact of developmental care on the brain

Principal Investigator: Heidi Feldman, MD PhD

Study Description: Developmental care is a strategy in the NICU to reduce infant stress and increase parental infant bonding. Elements of developmental care include skin-to-skin contact between parent and baby, and increased gentle touch. Members of our team look at developmental care as it's related to neurodevelopmental outcomes. Children born preterm in the NICU undergo a clinical MRI scan prior to hospital discharge. This project links the results of those scans to the type and amount of developmental care the infant received during the hospital stay. 

Collaborators: Kristen Yeom, MD, Melissa Scala, MD, Edith Brignoni-Perez, PhD, and Lisa Bruckert, PhD